A Bengaluru-based science teacher has written a fiction book revolving around paranormal activity. Avanti Nioding’s ‘House of Past’ was inspired by her own experiences as a teenager growing up in Choudwar, Odisha.
“It was initially meant to be a short story. But when I sat down to write it, it turned out to be much longer than I expected,” Avanti shares.
The coming-of-age story follows a young girl. The difficulties she faces in life see her retreating into her dreams, which serves as a crutch for dealing with her grim reality. The obsession with this alternate world threatens to throw her life off course. In the end, she is forced to make a decision to save herself and her future. The book also deals with themes like drug abuse, paranoia, homesickness and relationships.
Asked what prompted her to explore the theme of paranormal phenomena and how she views it as a science teacher, she says, “Not everything in our environment can be explained. And I believe that there is a scientific explanation that we haven’t arrived at yet.”
‘House of Past’ is available online.
Published 17 May 2024, 01:17 IST